CAT Crafter Interview with Rosie @bedcrafter

How long have you been crafting for?: I remember loving to craft from an early age and staying with my Nan and doing crafting with her. I have dabbled in quite a few different crafts but my main one now is crochet. I learnt to crochet quite a few years ago now and it’s one of the best things I ever decided to do. Before that I was doing card and paper crafting but it was very difficult to do with how ill I was so I didn’t get to do it as often as I’d like and then along came crochet which was much easier to do in bed and easier for me over all. So right now and for the past few years it’s been all about crochet but I do miss card making and even jewellery making, I am hoping if my health improves I’ll be able to enjoy them again as well.

Tea or Coffee? Neither, I’m a freak. I have never liked tea or coffee and the closest I have come to it was a lovely vanilla chai latte with milk (plant based). So no tea or coffee for me, it’s pretty much water and the occasional fizzy pop.

Favourite Quote?: Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. – Albus Dumbledore

Your CAT story: I’d say this truly started when I learnt to crochet many years ago, I was really ill and completely bedbound and I really missed that creative outlet because before I had been enjoying card and paper crafting but as I became worse I couldn’t do that anymore. I tried to learn knitting but found it too painful to do and I am so glad I decided to give crochet a try. Crochet really has changed my life in a positive way and I couldn’t imagine my life without it now, it’s often a main part to my day and even if I am not well enough to actually crochet I am usually looking/planning a project or buying/looking at yarn. Luckily I am able to crochet most days and it can really help to distract myself from the pain or how ill I am feeling. It’s a great escapism and often its the only happy part of my day 😊

I am still severely ill and bedbound, I cannot do much at all for myself and need help with most things, so being able to crochet means the world to me as it’s the one thing I can do. It’s great to have that creative outlet as I’ve always been such a creative person, and to actually be able to achieve something and say I did that means more than I can express. Crochet truly is my therapy, it picks me up when I am feeling low and can really help me cope with the pain, isolation and struggles that my health brings. I know that if I did not have crochet in my life that I’d be far worse as it really is the best therapy, best of all it even combines with furry therapy 😊 there is nothing better than crocheting with one (or more) of my furry family.

My husband and I are doing a yearlong charity challenge, raising money for two great charities (alternating months). My husband is running a minimum of 5K every day with an amigurumi character that I have made. Every month has a new amigurumi character, it’s either Star Wars or Marvel and at the end of each month a raffle takes place where the amigurumi character that my husband has ran with is able to be won (often extras are also included in the raffle). Daily photos are posted on my husband’s account @island_runner for people to follow, you can also see them under the #amigurumicharityrun hashtag. For more details click here.